World Goth Day 2024 is on Wednesday, May 22, 2024: gothic sterotypes and what is a goth?

Wednesday, May 22, 2024 is World Goth Day 2024. May 22 is World Goth Day The Official World Goth Day site defines it as "a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world"

May 22 is World Goth Day The Official World Goth Day site defines it as "a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world"

Back in the day, when I first joined the "goth club" (if you want to

call it that, I generally don't),It was less about appearances and

more about a core set of... beliefs/ values/ personality traits/

whatever you want to call them.

All the goths I knew were loners, including me. Considered to

be "losers". We were drawn together by common interests in art and

music, but those things weren't what defined us. Nowadays, Peter

Murphy is a g*d to the babygoths (visigoths?), but how many newbie

goths are even aware of Bauhaus? Back then, Peter Murphy was their

scrawny, screaming, yet somehow captivating, lead singer. We weren't

defined by the clothes we wore, or what make-up we applied or what

club we hung out at or what kind of red wine we drank. (I don't even

drink red wine, for instance. In fact, most of the goth kids I came

up with preferred beer.)

It was more about an attitude... this sort of "I don't care, fuck the

world, it's out to screw me anyway" kind of thing. We'd all

experienced our share of shit, and most of it was too ugly for words.

Maybe the word I'm looking for here is cynicism, but I don't think

real goth is based in cynicism. It's more a dark outlook on the world

and your fellow man, the assumption that everyone is an asshole, and

all the prickles and stings we put on our outsides to protect

ourselves. Perhaps it was those hard shells that drew us together.

One way or another, we became what we were... a group of loners so

unaccepted by society that we banded together for lack of anything

else to do. Old-schoolers tend to be more accepting and less

judgemental than the average bear. Maybe that came from being shunned

by everyone.

New goths... the "visigoths" as I've seen them called... it's all

about appearance. Let's completely disregard the middle-stage wannabe

vampires for the time being. New goths... the ones I've met and

talked to, anyway... seem to be a pack of spoiled yuppie children

with no bigger problems than

"daddy bought me a car for my birthday and it was the wrong color. So

now I'm going to Hot Topic to spend thousands of dollars on

trendy "victorian" clothing and start wearing my eyeliner really

heavy to bother him. I'll listen to this disjointed music by The

Prodigy. I'll write whiney poems and smoke clove cigarrettes and

commiserate with my yuppie goth friends because Jenni got grounded

for flunking math and Matt can't leave his house for a week because

he got caught smoking. My goth, my life sucks. I'm so Depeche.

Morrissey! Morrissey!"

These self-congratulatory, self indulgent children get together at

the "goth club" and rub each others' backs and kiss each others'

foreheads, "oh, it's okay, because we all love each other, we're all

goth and we're all in love and we all need to be validated in our

shallow existences and LOVE ME I NEED LOVE!!!!!!"

Now don't get me wrong... I'm not saying all newbie goths are like

that. As a matter of fact, most singular goths start out a lot more

like the old-schoolers (loners, not fitting in) than the visigoths. I

think that in some ways, new gothers get corrupted by the scene and

the expectations laid upon them by members of the visigoth group. If

you don't practise the conformity of modern gothism, you will

ostracised by those kids who are playing in the scene. And the

inherent need to be accepted I think every human has kicks into

overdrive and conformity is the result.

Goth is an attitude. I am goth, even when I'm wearing blue jeans and

my trix the rabbit shirt. I just wish that goth wasn't defined the

way it is in modern terms.

The goth kids on South Park are a perfect example. "Everyone in the

world is a conformist but us. If you want to hang out with us, you

just have to dress like us, talk like us, and listen to the same

music we do. You also need to dance like us, write angsty poetry, and

smoke clove cigarrettes while at coffee at Denny's. Then you can be

an individual, just like us."

Maddi

Seeing its world goth day (yes really) what's your fave goth song(s)?

Hmm...my phone must've sensed it was world goth day seeing as it was playing mostly goth rock music today at work on shuffle XD

Dark Entries - Bauhaus

Bella Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus

Siren - Nosferatu

Vampyres Cry - Nosferatu

Spellbound - Siouxsie and the Banshees

Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie and the Banshees

Dominion - Sisters of Mercy

Happy world goth day everyone ^_^

What is goth?

Goth:

Many stereotypes of goths exist these days. It seems everyone has their own way to define 'what is goth'. From the stereotypes based on clothing to music right up to the stereotypes of all goths being satanists or part of some kind of cult. Categorically, all of these are false.

The goth scene is just as widely varied as society in general. There are many different professions represented in the scene, from highly skilled professionals like doctors and lawyers, to tradesman, to technically minded people to clerical workers. Many different musical tastes exist (and not all of them goth, there is a HUGE 80's following in the goth scene for some reason). The fashion varies vastly from goth to goth from the traditional flowing victorian style garments to the buckled and studded style clothing.